Have you found yourself dealing with frequent pest problems in your home? When nuisance pests are bothering you, it may seem like the best solution is a pesticide product. But you may not want to be so hasty. The fact is, there is a lot that homeowners can do to mitigate pest threats before relying on pesticide treatment.

Your home is filled with environmental factors that could allow pests to thrive in your home. Something as simple as a leaky faucet could attract pests that thrive in high moisture environments. Mitigating these types of conducive conditions can often have a major impact on your pest problems.

But what are these “conducive conditions” and how do I identify them in my home?

The truth is, every home is a unique environment, and as such different homes have different conducive conditions that attract pests. That being said, there are a few common problems that many homeowners encounter, and our years of experience in the pest industry have given us a lot of insight into this issue. So without further ado, here are our Top 5 Reasons pests are attracted to your home!

1.Sources of Moisture:

Just like people, pests need water to survive. While some simply need to consume water, other pests prefer a particular moisture level in their surrounding environment. This can attract pests such as roaches to water damage, leaky pipes, or drains. If you find water damage or a leak in your home, it is a good idea to inspect the surrounding area for signs of pest activity.

2. Controlled Temperatures:

Outdoors, pest activity is greatly influenced by the changing seasons. Pests such as termites, ants, and mosquitoes are unable to survive in cold weather, and as such, they go dormant during the winter months. Other pests, such as squirrels and mice, must find shelter to hibernate throughout the winter.

This pattern is thrown off, however, if pests are inside your home. During the wintertime, a warm home can attract pests of all kinds seeking shelter. To make matters worse, it can also allow pests such as termites to survive throughout the winter. Termite infestations inside walls, crawlspaces, and basements can thrive and grow in your home during the winter in secret, leading to a large and problematic infestation.

3. Garbage and Stored Food:

Trash and unsealed food can be an enticement for scavenging pests. Roaches, flies, and ants will often go after any available nourishment source in your home. Even food leftover on dirty dishes can attract many of these pests, and once they have found food in your home they can be difficult to get rid of. Scavenging ant workers communicate with one another when they find sources of food, so they may continue to return to your home if they have found a steady food source there.

Larger wildlife pests, such as raccoons and rats, can be attracted to garbage cans, pet food, and compost bins that are not properly closed off. If they begin to feed around your home, they may stay in close proximity.

4. Clutter:

Clutter around your home can provide easy hiding places for pests of all kinds. Pests such as spiders, rats, and scorpions prefer to live in dark, secluded spaces, and a crowded home can provide them with easy access to hideouts. By reducing clutter around your home, you can reduce the available hiding places for pests and make it easier to identify their activity.

5. Exterior Access Points:

If pests are getting into your home, an important step in controlling the problem is identifying how they are able to do so. Small insect pests can exploit even the smallest cracks or gaps to access your home, and this can make it difficult to fully protect your home. That said, a larger access avenue such as roof damage, unsealed vents or wood to ground contact around the foundation could create a continuous pest problem in your home.

Oftentimes pests invade homes in secluded areas that are away from human eyes, and if some access point is open around your home it can be difficult to identify without careful inspection. If you are consistently dealing with pests but cannot determine their access point, you may want to call in a licensed pest control professional to inspect your home.

If I deal with these problems, will it keep pests out of my home?

Since these are some of the most common pest-attracting problems in the home, resolving these issues will certainly reduce the likelihood of pest activity in your home. That said, every home is unique, and as such there are typically unique conducive factors in and around your home that could be attracting pests. Dealing with these effectively requires a comprehensive, integrated pest management plan.

To ensure that your home remains pest free longterm, you should contact your pest control provider so that your home can be inspected and pretreated.

At Arrow Pest Service, we have decades of experience treating pests of all kinds. We are mosquito experts, employing industry-leading techniques and cutting-edge products to ensure that your mosquito problems are dealt with as quickly, effectively, and safely as possible!

So if you are dealing with mosquitoes, don’t let them ruin one more warm summer day! Give us a call today at 850-874-1900! We will be happy to help in any way that we can!